Thursday, 19 November 2015

This post is unashamedly commercial, my apologies
for this but I believe if you are not doing these things with your business you
are missing a huge opportunity to promote your business in a very cost
effective way.

There are some promotional products out there that will put
your name in front of your clients for every second of every day of the year.

They are cheap, don't require a huge amount of effort on your part and they are
a tangible product...not some form of digital marketing or social media advertising that lasts two minutes.

So what are these magical products?

Desk pads & wall planners.

Every year I print my own wall planners & desk
pads, my clients love them. They rely on them everyday.

When I visit them through the year I see them using
the wall planners to record everyone’s holidays or shift patterns and see my name on their office wall.

The desk pads are even better, forming a part of their working
environment on their desks (obviously!). Your name, telephone number & email address are in
front of them every second of every day of the year.

Here is the commercial bit!!

What's the cost?

To keep the cost down we use standard templates so
you simply supply us with your logo and we incorporate it into your
template. Your name is clearly displayed.

Wall planners are A1 in size. 100 will cost you £2.50 each, 200
will be £1.80 each. This includes proofing, printing in full colour on high
quality paper, folding to A4 and delivery to one UK address.

For the desk pads we again use standard templates.

100 pads will cost you £2.95 each. 200 pads will cost you £2.25 each.
This includes, proofing, printing in full colour on 100g uncoated paper. The
pads are glued in pads of 25 sheets and are delivered to one address in the UK.

So the cost for 100 wall planners and 100 desk pads is £5.45, near
enough the same price as a cheap bottle of wine or box of chocolates!!

However, if you order wall planners and desk pads together at the same
time that cost comes down to £5.00 for 100 of each item and £3.70 for 200 of
each item.

To get this special price you need to place your order by 30th
November. Supplying your artwork (your logo) and payment by this day. Delivery
will be week 14th December. Giving you and your sales team plenty of
time to distribute them.

What other forms of advertising puts your name in front of your
customers every second of every day of the year? There is no other method of
advertising that is as cheap and effective as this.

Friday, 6 November 2015

I went to the Burnley Bonfire night yesterday, my first time at an organised event for many years, mainly to watch the firework display but also to partake in the traditional fare on bonfire evening.

I was looking forwards the Treacle Toffee, Parkin, Hot Baked Potatoes (so hot from the fire they were black), black peas & meat pie, toffee apples, hot pot & red cabbage. All the things I ate at bonfire nights for many years.

You can imagine my disappointment when all there was on offer were burgers, fried chicken, chips, greasy doughnuts & candy floss interspersed with concessions selling light sabres. It felt more like Blackpool than Burnley.

It was also raining, freezing cold and muddy. The fire was well, a fire, but Health & Safety means you can't get within 5o yards of it, so you can't even feel that warm glow to heat you up!

The noise from funfair (wtf), blared out in the background and I began to wonder what I was doing there. This wasn't Bonfire night as I remember.

But then the main event started. The firework display. It was worth the wait, the cold and rain. It was a truly spectacular show, which lit up the sky.

Far far better than the often disappointing fireworks you used to buy from the newsagent. Catherine wheels that didn't go around. Traffic lights that didn't change colours and rockets in a milk bottle that could go anywhere.

After the 20 minute firework display was over, everyone applauded and I was left thinking am I an old fart? Life changes and we are all victims of progress, yes the traditional part of bonfire night I remember has gone, but boy those fireworks were bloody brilliant and I can't wait to go back next year!

We all are guilty of saying "things were better when I was younger" but most of the time that isn't true and most things are better now than they were in the past. We should all embrace change and the benefits of technology, better production techniques but not forget our heritage and past.